Red
by ElizaKerina
Summary: Ryder Penber-Misora is Naomi's thirteen-year-old son. After hearing of his mother and father's death, Ryder is taken to live under Wammy's house, where he makes a few friends, and a couple of enemies. Will Red ever get his revenge on Kira?
1. Chapter 1

Red

**Summary:** **Ryder Penber-Misora is Naomi's thirteen-year-old son. After hearing of his mother and father's death, Ryder is taken to live under Wammy's house, where he makes a few friends, and a couple of enemies.**

**AN: I know Naomi was probably too young to have a thirteen year old, but I kind of needed Red to have about the same age as Mello and Near if he was going to be competing to become L. I just wanted to try this idea out, and if it doesn't work, oh well, at least I gave it a shot**

**(I'm procrastinating doing my French homework right now)**

* * *

_Introduction_

Red dropped his tattered leather case onto the edge of the bed, wincing at the sharp sounds of aged bedsprings echoing through the empty room. He'd only been at Wammy's house for about an hour or so, but regardless, the building was beginning to feel rather familiar. The damp wallpaper and cracked floorboards reminded him of the house he'd used to live in. In hindsight, everything was going relatively smoothly for a first day in a new environment.

As he removed his rain-soaked coat from his shoulders and placed it behind his study desk, he began to fiddle with the iron cross he wore around his neck, biting on the piece of silver and toying with the chain, before he pulled it from his chest and placed the item upon the small wooden bedside beneath the rusted metallic window frame.

It was only after he heard a sudden bellowing call down the hall that Red snapped back into reality. "Mello! Get back here right now or a swear to God- MELLO!"

The door upon the left side of the room was jolted open and then immediately shut. A young boy, maybe a year or two older than Red, with shoulder-length blonde hair and ice-blue eyes propped himself up against the door, locking both bolts upon the tarnished frame and pressing his ear up against the face of the wood to listen in.

Red stared in slight shock for a moment or two, blinking his eyes and scratching the back of his head. A few minutes of awkward silence passed by, before the stranger stood up straight and leant his head against the wall. "Too fucking early for this shit." He uttered beneath his breath. He then seemed to notice Red standing on the far side of the room, a look of unreserved confusion written upon his face. "Do I know you?"

"…Uh…" Red stood awkwardly for a moment, realized he was actually talking to _him, _and attempted to form a sentence. "Uh, no…I don't think so…"

"'Could have just said so ya' buzzkill." He chuckled, pacing towards the other side of the room and jumping onto the left side of Red's bed. "I'm guessing your new then. I'm Mello." It took Red a moment for his brain to turn on, and after it did, he'd wished it hadn't. "This is the part where you tell me _your _name."

"Oh, it's…Red."

"Like, the colour?" Mello refused to hide the fact he was about to burst into hysteric laughter. "Man! I thought I got it bad. Roger sucks. What the fuck kind of a name is Mello, right?"

"…Why are you in my room?" Red questioned as his brain slowly began to function again (in honesty, he hadn't really used his brain for the past five weeks).

Mello smirked slightly, but it soon faded as he stood from the bedside and grabbed his satchel he'd dropped by the door. "Needed a place to hide and your room was the closest to the corridor. I kinda' sorta' robbed the main office. See, I have this thing where if I don't eat chocolate at least once a day, I. Will. Die."

Red figured Mello was joking, but that was before he tossed the satchel onto the bed, and as it fell onto the covers, about thirty or more chocolate bars fell from inside the bag, scattering across the sheets. Red arched an eyebrow in shock and somewhat disbelief. "You're gonna' eat all of that?"

"Probably, if Roger doesn't find it anyway." He stated, walking over to the windowsill, looking out over at the nearest tree that just brushed up against the glass of the window. "I'm usually pretty good at this. I think they've started putting more cameras in the office to keep me out."

"Doesn't this…make you fat?" Red questioned with a genuine look of curiosity on his face.

"If you use your head you won't get fat, even if you eat sweets." Mello smirked, grabbing a bar of chocolate from his bag. "So, are we friends now, or what?"

"…I'm sorry, what?" Red questioned, his eyes wide with confusion. Mello laughed, though whether it was with him or at him was unknown (most likely the latter). He then placed a hand on the younger boys head and ruffled his raven black hair.

Mello then glanced at the clock that hung lopsided upon the wall. "Ah, shit. I gotta' go. Thanks for letting me hide up here." He saluted as he tidied up his things and swung his bag over his left shoulder. "See you around."

Red watched as Mello slid the side window open and crawled out rather faultlessly, jumping onto the nearby tree and beginning his descent down. Red couldn't help but wonder what was up with him.

* * *

"Everyone, this is Red. He's our newest member of the house. Remember to treat him nicely, he's only been in England for a few days." The teacher motioned for Red to take a seat by the back of the class. Red had noticed that most of the students were rather welcoming. One in particular was a young girl, probably the same age as him, with a cute smile and hair tied back into a ponytail. She'd been the one to lead him around the building the night he'd arrived. He couldn't remember her name exactly, but he'd probably find out sooner or later.

Red took his seat at the very back of the room, where only two other students sat.

He noticed a white-haired young boy who sat in a rather peculiar position. His eyes were dark and he appeared to be twirling a lock of his hair with his index finger. As the lesson began, Red noticed that every so often, the boy would glance at him, rather offhandedly, but still noticeable.

About five minutes into the math lesson, the boy said something rather peculiar. "Was your mother Naomi Misora?"

Red stopped writing for a moment and turned his head towards the boy. "Maybe. Why, who is she?"

"A woman whom had formerly worked under L himself. I'm just asking because that's what your history file read." The boy spoke with such an even tone; Red began to wonder whether he was human.

"I don't talk about my parents." Red stated, gripping his pencil a little tighter.

"Ah, so she is your mother. Good to know." The boy placed a light smile on his lips. "That's quite a reputation to live up to. The son of two FBI agents, one of who practically matched L's own intelligence."

"…I'd be a little more impressed if they hadn't gone and got themselves murdered by Kira…"

The white haired boy turned his head towards Red. It was obvious the subject was rather difficult for him to handle, though he did an extensively good job at hiding it. He was rather impressed.

"I have a puzzle, and I'm having a little trouble working out the answer. Would you like a go?" The stranger asked. Red glanced over once again.

"…I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"My friend gave me a present, but it was delivered in a block of ice. The note attached said that you can use one-hundred and fifty milliliters of hot water to melt thirty grams of ice, and that I must now work out how many cups of hot water are necessary to melt two kilograms of ice to retrieve the present. How many cups of hot water are necessary?" The boy watched as Red crossed his legs and thought for a moment.

"And you couldn't work it out yourself?" Red questioned.

"I assume you have the answer then." The boy smiled.

"The amount is zero. You said how many cups of water are necessary to melt the ice, but the ice would simply melt by itself. It's simple if you thought of it from a real life perspective. A child could do it." He chuckled beneath his breath, turning back to his work in front of him.

"Actually I worked it out before I gave it to you, and yes, I agree it is rather simple. Perhaps I'll give you something a little more challenging next time…please, call me Near."

"Nice to meet you Near. It's Red."

* * *

**To be continued (hopefully)!**

**It's a little rough, but I'm only just starting. Tell me what you thought in the comments if you liked it or follow if you want more. If not then I'm sorry I wasted your time :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Four days later…

"Are we getting our results back on the paper we did yesterday?" Linda asked.

"Yep, not that you need to worry about that. If I were you, I'd go back to doodling in that little sketchbook of yours." Mello teased, putting his feet up on his desk. Red sat beside Mello, reading through a set of notes and pretending not to be aware of the conversation.

"Hey!" Linda scowled.

"I'm kidding." He chuckled, snapping a piece of chocolate from the bar in his hand and holding it between his teeth. "You'll do fine."

Linda's frown seemed to fade as her mood lightened. Red was aware of the fact that Mello wasn't a bad guy; he just enjoyed wearing his facade to frighten the people around him. He had the potential to be a total jackass, but at the end of the day, Mello was just Mello.

It was then a boy dressed in a red and black striped shirt with tinted goggles over his eyes entered through the classroom door, giving a strained yawn in the process. He took a seat in the empty space on the other side of Mello, slouching as low as possible into his seat before whipping his DS from his back pocket.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mello huffed, flicking the boy on the back of the head.

"Nothing." He replied nonchalantly, momentarily flinching at the newfound ache in his skull.

"Oh, really?" Mello quirked an eyebrow. "You sure about that Matt?"

"Shut up." Matt kicked Mello in the side of the leg under the desk. Mello stifled a grin and licked along the edge of his chocolate bar. Red could tell the two of them were friends, or at least, 'well acquainted'. "My computer broke down again. Had to fix it this morning."

"Well that's what you get for being such a shithead." Mello said boyishly. "Hacking's not a hobby, Matt." The goggled young man simply rolled his eyes and resumed his game on his portable.

Near sat to Red's other side, twirling his hair and fiddling with a plastic car on his desk. Red had noticed his slight obsession with toys over the past few days. He hadn't asked him about it, because frankly, he'd seen weirder things.

"Good luck on your test results, Red." Near said beneath his voice.

"Oh, uh, yeah, same to you." Red replied.

He noticed Near look in Mello's direction, before saying, "Good luck, Mello."

Red instantaneously noticed the blonde go from relaxed to rigid within less than half a second. "Shut up, albino retard."

Near didn't appear one bit intimidated by Mello's response, continuing to play with his toys. Matt pulled Mello's arm and began to talk with him. Mello continued to eye Near for a second before turning his head completely.

"Don't hold it against him." Near said, drawing Red's attention. "I admire him for reasons no one would understand…though, they aren't exactly conventional forms of admiration."

"What happened between you two?" Red asked curiously.

"Nothing. We were born rivals. It's how the world works." Near looked down at the floor. "Rivalry is a hatred in itself."

"Alright class, settle down." The teacher calls. "I have your results."

The class was stunned to a silence as they waited for the teacher to call the list of scores.

"Linda, great improvement. Seventy percent."

Linda gave a squeal of approval, a bright grin upon her face.

"Matt, not your best. Eighty-nine percent." Matt acted as though he hadn't even heard her say his score, continuing on with his game. Red felt astonished to think eighty-nine could be a low score for ANYONE. Perhaps Matt was a hidden genius beneath all his nerd.

"Near, no surprise. One-hundred percent." The class gave a round of applause, all except for Matt and Mello. The tension was so dense you could see it from a mile away, though only Red seemed to pick up on it.

"Mello, almost there. Ninety-eight percent." Red heard the blonde breathe a sigh so light only a trained ear could pick up on it. Mello seemed disappointed in himself, perhaps even demoralized, but not surprised.

The rest of the class received their notes and marks until finally the teacher called the last name.

"Red, very impressive for a first time quiz. Ninety-five percent."

Red's eyes widened in surprise. Ninety-five? He knew he was smart, but he'd never thought himself to be exceedingly smart. "Wow, great job, Red!" Linda exclaimed with a massive smile.

"Uh…thanks, I guess." Red choked up. He wasn't entirely sure as to how he could have possibly overrun practically everyone minus the two most intelligent people in Wammy's.

"Hey," Mello chuckled, "you're smarter than I thought. Should I be worried?"

Red wasn't too sure whether Mello was joking or not, but regardless, he returned a smile. "Nothing you need to worry about, blondie."

Mello gave Red a friendly shove to the shoulder. "Whatever you say, coal-head."

…

"You're gonna' get in so much trouble, Matt!" Linda muttered, attempting to pull the keyboard away from the boy. Matt simply hissed and continued typing at rapid speed. "Matt!"

Red had heard the commotion from his room and poked his head through the doorway. "…Is everything okay?" He asked courteously.

"No, everything is NOT okay! Matt, stop it!" Linda turned her head, though her expression of anger softened at the sight of the new kid. "Oh, hey Red. Didn't know it was you, sorry."

"Close the God damn door, the light's hurting my eyes!" Matt uttered, not letting his eyes leave his computer screen. Red edged his way into the room and warily closed the door behind him, leaving the glow of Matt's computer screen to light the room.

Linda gestured for Red to move closer, so he did. It was only when he found himself standing over Matt's shoulder that he saw the strips of data streaming through the boy's computer system. "Are you a hacker?" Red asked, unable to hide the thrill in his tone.

"I like to think of myself as an avid computing specialist." Matt corrected, his fingers still tapping away. "But yes, I'm a hacker."

Red squinted his eyes at the screen in amazement. "Are you hacking into FBI security?!"

"Good observational skills dude." Matt moved his hand and grabbed his can of soda from the tabletop, his free hand still at work. "Name's Matt, green bean."

"I'm-"

Before Red had a chance to introduce himself, the computer began to hiss, giving an unsightly hint of spark beneath the smoking monitor. With a frenzied flash, the machine began to buzz and Matt was on his feet in seconds.

"Shit, shit, shit, not now, in the name of Zelda and the great Triforce, not now!" Matt began mindlessly knocking the side of his computer screen with his fist and Red had to pretend like he hadn't just heard that Legend of Zelda reference. "God dammit! Don't die on me man!"

"…Is he talking to the…" Red pointed at the faulty computer.

"Best not to question him." Linda said with a smile. "Don't know if you've noticed, but Matt's kind of a nerd."

"Your system fan's broken." Red stated, causing Linda to giggle.

Matt pulled his goggles from his eyes and rested them on his forehead with a low sigh. "Thank you for your insight captain obvious. I can see that."

"Well, maybe next time you should check your system's upgraded to maximum potential before you try hacking into a Federal Law agency database." Red suggested rather casually and Linda gave a mocking snort.

"Where did I go wrong?" Matt paced over to his bed and belly flopped onto the matrass. "This shit-ass computer can't do squat. I've had it for six years already. Stupid Roger and his stupid budget cuts! You'd think L's successor could get a lil' more respect, let alone a computer that actually fucking works!"

"L's…what?" Red raised his brow in confusion. "What did you say?"

"…Oh, right, yeah. Probably should have told you." Matt rolled onto his bed and pulled his DS from under his pillow, holding it over his head as he switched it on and resumed his game of Pokémon. "L has three possible successors in Wammy's house as far as I'm aware. I'm basically the third option."

"Third place? That sounds kinda' tragic." Red chuckled. Matt nodded in agreement, giving a sniff before smirking it off.

"Eh, third place ain't bad. Besides, who'd want to be L's successor anyway? Like I could handle the stress of being L."

Red looked down at his feet. L's successor?

L, the man hunting Kira. The greatest detective to ever walk the earth.

Kira, the man who murdered his parents.

Kira, the name of evil that Red would see be brought to justice even if it killed him.

"Near and Mello are both running to become L, you know." Matt said. "Without them, I'd probably be up there in that first space. Good thing I ain't as smart as people assume."

"Mello and Near?" Red questioned. "You're saying Mello and Near are L's successors?"

Matt dropped his DS onto his chest, allowing his now free hands to pull his goggles back down. "Well, for now." The boy gave red a cheeky grin. "You seem pretty smart yourself, green bean."

"You're not seriously suggesting I could beat both Near and Mello. Come on, the two of them are practically geniuses. I'm just…I'm just me." Red shrugged.

"Says the guy who scored full marks on the Wammy entrance form AND came third in his first class exam." Matt smirked. "But I don't like getting into all of this L business anyway. I respect the guy, I just don't wanna' be him. But hey, if L's successor ever needs a right hand man, I'll be here waiting."

…

"It sucks here, you know. It's basically a prison." Mello sat by the windowsill, his head lolled back against the wall, watching as cars drove by the orphanage, passer's by ogling the large building like it were a masterpiece.

"Rather be in here than out there." Red said, chewing on the metal slate of his rosary.

"You catholic?" Mello asked. Red seemed surprised, not by the fact that the blonde had noticed the rosary, but by the fact he knew what Catholicism was. Red didn't mean to sound impolite, but Mello didn't exactly come across as the religious type of guy.

"Yeah, kind of. My parents were catholic." Red explained, propping himself upright against the door at the end of the room. "You aren't a Christian…are you?"

"Don't have time for stuff like that." Mello shrugged. "Did have a cross once though. Kind of looked like yours. Won it in a game of poker."

Red furrowed his brow. "Poker?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "Should of known a deadbeat like you don't know what poker is." He gave a chuckle before turning to face Red. "It's a card game dumbass. Come by my room some time, I'll teach you."

Red gave a huff, but smirked nonetheless. He wasn't particularly sure as to how he felt about Mello. He understood why everyone in Wammy's House seemed to hate him, but at the same time he saw him as a genuinely nice guy.

Though, he might have only been saying that due to the fact he'd been there for four days and Mello was the only one who seemed to truly want him as a friend.

Though, Near had seemed to be rather friendly…in his own strange sort of way. He'd always be asking him riddles inviting him to help solve a puzzle. Most of the time Red would be able to solve them within the blink of an eye, though every so often, Near would present him with a problem that he'd not understand at all, and it only seemed to amuse him.

"Mello!" A voice called from the hall. Linda calls from the hall before poking her head round the doorway. "There you are!"

"Whatever it was, I didn't do it." Mello insisted, turning his head back to the window.

"Ugh, you're not in trouble, idiot." Linda said. "Ryuzaki's here!"

Mello jumped in surprise. "Ryuzaki? Here? Right now?" Linda nodded.

"Who's Ryuzaki?" Red asked.

"Who do you think?" Linda laughed merrily. "He's one of L's associates, of course!"

**To be continued (soon)**


End file.
